China and Capitalism

A History of Business Enterprise in Modern China

David Faure

Publication Year: 2006

This book describes China’s encounter with capitalism from the sixteenth century to the twentieth century. It poses poignant questions in simple language, guides the reader through a complex literature and presents a unique point of view.

Contents

Acknowledgments

The substance of this book came from lectures I gave over the years
in my own classes and at conferences. Among the many people to
thank, therefore, are my students in the Economic History of Modern
China course which I gave in the 1980s, who were much confused...

1. Introduction

Towards the end of 1978 when the Chinese leadership decided to
re-open the country to foreign trade and investment, the implications
of the policy turn-around were neither as clearly set out nor
necessarily as destined to succeed as it is sometimes now thought. Yet...

2. The Sprouts of Capitalism

Every now and then, it becomes an issue among historians what
endemic features in Chinese society had held back the country’s
economic development in the nineteenth century. In the latest
round, they have been driven to focus their minds, by Andre Gunther...

3. Why Did the Chinese Economy
Lag Behind?

The Chinese economy is said to have lagged behind in the nineteenth
century for many reasons, not all of which are justified. Until the
newspapers of Shanghai reported them in detail, inland famines were
distant affairs for the coastal observer in China. Until then, Malthus...

4. Company Law and the
Emergence of the Modern Firm

The modern firm came about in China via one of three routes: it
was sometimes the result of the privatization of central government
enterprises; it was sometimes built upon the family firm; and in a few
cases, it came about as an exertion of coordinated regional...

5. The Responsibility System and
Enterprise Reform

Economic growth from the 1870s continued until the early 1930s. By
then, the World Depression caught up with China; production
slumped and the monetary system came under attack. Had this book
been concerned with the economic record rather than the narrower...

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